Funding fear casts shadow over British rover's mission to Mars

Travelling at a stately four centimetres a second, it may not be the fastest remote-controlled vehicle ever built, but by the time Bradley begins its six-month journey to Mars in 2013 it will certainly be the most sophisticated.

Bradley is the latest design for the European Space Agency's ExoMars rover. The finished version of the six-wheeled robot which will operate autonomously on the red planet is due to touch down in 2015 and is an integral part of the €1bn (£788.7m) mission.

The advanced prototype is an improvement on Bridget, the original rover built by engineers at EADS Astrium in Stevenage. It is the result of a competition between two companies to copy and improve on Bridget's design, although the finished rover will incorporate features from both.

The ExoMars mission will blast off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. ESA scientists hope it will emulate the success of the two Nasa rovers Spirit and Opportunity. They landed on Mars in January 2004 and are still operating. The ExoMars rover will be designed to search for signs of life and study the red planet's geology over several kilometres.

But scientists at EADS Astrium are concerned they will not be granted the €200m contract to design, build and test the final rover because of funding cuts to the UK space budget. A spokesman for the Science and Technology Facilities Council said that it had not yet decided on the funding level for the mission.